Fees and Charges
School fees, meal charges for whole-day classes, registration fees (school place reservation fees), and application fees to be charged by kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres should be approved by the EDB. Schools are required to display the fees certificate and relevant approval letter(s) at a prominent place in the school premises.

All the necessary expenses relating to teaching and school operation should be chargeable to government funds or covered by the school fees without any additional charges. The expenses include:

• Salaries (including payment for supply teachers), provident fund, mandatory provident fund, long service payment / severance payment of teaching and supporting staff
• Rent and management fees, rates and government rent for the kindergarten premises
• Furniture and equipment used by school for education purposes
• Teaching aids such as library books, reference materials, worksheets for teachers and students
• Expenses on repairs, maintenance and improvement works of the kindergarten premises including installation of air-conditioners, double-glaze windows and exhaust fans, maintenance contract, inspection fees for maintaining fire, gas, electrical installation and building safety, etc.
• Water and electricity (including air-conditioning) charges, telephone line, fax line and internet service charges
• Cleaning fees (including cleaning contract and the provision of cleaning facilities to students)
• Expenses on printing, paper, teachers’ stationery and other consumables for teaching and learning activities
• Postage charges and publications
• Insurance premium and expenses on first aid and fire safety equipment
• Audit fees and other service charges in connection with school administration
• Transportation fees for school administration purposes
• Expenses on regular learning activities for all students, conducted either inside or outside the school premises (including expenses for birthday parties, graduation ceremony, school outing, picnics and visits)
• Items necessary for school operation such as student handbooks, profiles, student portfolios, graduation certificates and student cards, etc.
• Other expenses directly related to teaching and learning activities, school operation and maintenance of the standard of education service

(Note: Kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres need not charge all of the above items.)

The approved ceiling of application fee for admission is $40. The approved ceilings of registration fee are $970 (half-day session) and $1,570 (whole-day session). Collections of the above fees exceeding the approved ceilings require the prior approval of the EDB. Kindergartens must refund the registration fee within the first month of the school year to any student/child who pays the registration fee and subsequently takes up the school place.

Kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres should observe the following rules when selling school items or providing paid services to students (regardless whether the items are directly sold by the schools or procured on parents’ behalf):

• Schools should inform parents in writing that acquisition of such items or services is entirely voluntary.
• Schools are required to list out clearly the charges and quantity of each item so that parents can select the items or services required.
• Schools should avoid charging parents in one lump-sum for the whole package of items or services covering the whole school year so that parents may choose to replenish the items or continue using the services in the middle of the year.
• The items to be sold or services to be provided should be directly related to the learning and teaching activities.
• Schools should set down proper arrangements for returning goods or refunding.
• Schools should not generate profit from the sale of textbooks.
• The profit limit of other items should not exceed 15% of the cost.

Permitted Accommodation and Admission
Kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres are required to display at a prominent place in each classroom (kindergartens) / the school premises (kindergarten-cum-child care centres) a notice specifying the maximum number of pupils permitted in that area and should not allow accommodating pupils exceeding the permitted maximum number in that area. Curriculum Planning
The curriculum goals of kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres should be formulated in accordance with the kindergarten education policies of Hong Kong and children’s developmental characteristics. The curriculum should enable children to develop positive learning attitudes and good living habits as well as fostering a holistic and balanced development. In devising the curriculum, the following concerns should be considered:

• Child-centredness is the core-value and so learning activities should be organised to cater for children’s abilities, interests and needs.
• Children should learn through play in a balanced daily schedule.
• Learning activities should cater for the diversity of children and promote children’s whole-person development in ethical, intellectual, physical, social and aesthetic aspects.
• Children should have adequate physical, music, art and free choice activities every day.
• Children of nursery class should not be asked to write.
• Children should not be asked to do mechanical copying exercises and drills on calculation.
• Children should not be asked to rote-learn English vocabulary.
• Dictation, test or examination should not be used for assessing children’s learning performance.

Requirement of Teacher to Pupil Ratio and Kindergarten Teacher Professional Qualifications
In order to enhance the quality of kindergarten education, with effect from the 2003/04 school year, the teacher to pupil ratio for all kindergarten levels should at least be 1:15. As from the 2004/05 school year, all kindergartens are required to employ 100% Qualified Kindergarten Teachers for the required teaching staff establishment, based on the above teacher to pupil ratio. Starting from the 2012/13 school year, kindergartens joining the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme should employ sufficient number of teachers possessing the Certificate in Early Childhood Education (C(ECE)) qualifications based on the teacher to children ratio of 1:15. From the 2017/18 school year, the requirement in teacher to pupil ratio for kindergartens joining the Kindergarten Education Scheme has been raised from 1:15 (including the principal) to 1:11 (principal not included) so as to allow teachers more capacity to cater for the diverse needs of students, engage in curriculum development, lesson planning, professional development, and communication with parents, etc. Admission Age of Kindergartens
With effect from the 2001/02 school year, in addition to admitting children aged three years or above, kindergartens of which their school year starts in August or September may also admit children who have attained the age of two years and eight months before 1 September of the school year of admission to the kindergarten nursery classes. For example, if a child was born on or before 31 December 2021, kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres of which their school year starts in August or September of 2024 may admit the child to the nursery class. The Kindergarten Education Scheme
Starting from the 2017/18 school year, the government has implemented the Kindergarten Education Scheme (the Scheme). Kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres joining the Scheme should be non-profit-making, offering a full local curriculum and pass the Quality Review. For the 2024/25 school year, the school fee ceilings for half-day classes and whole-day/long whole-day classes are set at $11,690 and $30,390 per student per annum respectively.

For details of the Scheme, you may visit the EDB webpage at
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/preprimary-kindergarten/free-quality-kg-edu/index.html
or call 2891 0088. Quality Assurance
The Quality Assurance Framework for kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres has been started from the 2007/08 school year onwards, with the set of performance indicators serving as reference for the assessment of the quality of education in schools. Promoting the continuous school development and enhancing the quality assurance function, schools will continue to conduct School Self-evaluation and will undergo Quality Review by EDB. Harmonisation of Pre-primary Services
After the harmonisation of kindergartens and child care centres with effect from 1 September 2005, some four hundred child care centres have been converted to kindergarten-cum-child care centres. One-stop services are provided to operators/parents by the Joint Office for Kindergartens and Child Care Centres set up by the EDB and the Social Welfare Department. Apart from providing education services to children aged three to six, kindergarten-cum-child care centres also provide care services to children aged below three. Parents may refer to the details on child care services in the Profile of Kindergartens and Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres. Detailed information on harmonisation of pre-primary services is available on EDB webpage at
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/preprimary-kindergarten/harmonisation-of-preprimary-services/index.html.